Friday, January 7, 2011

In Conversation with Sachin Tendulkar.

Having known the Indian master for more than 20 years, Bacher is well placed to make that assessment. Indeed, their close friendship is what led to Bacher, a former captain of South Africa, securing an exclusive one-hour interview with the world’s greatest batsman for SuperSport.

The interview, titled In Conversation with Sachin, will be broadcast after Sunday’s T20 international in Durban (SuperSport 2, 9.30pm).

It will also be broadcast on SuperSport HD on Monday at 8pm.

“It took three months to arrange and we finally sat down together at my home in Johannesburg two days after he had made his 50th test hundred,” said Bacher, who admits that he was unusually nervous ahead of the interview.

“I’ve been privileged in my 50 years in and around cricket to have met the best players in the world, many of them quality people, but I’ve never met anyone quite like Sachin. He is so humble and self-effacing; it’s as if he is from another planet.”

During the interview, Bacher prods Tendulkar about his private life, the inexorable pressure of living in the public glare for 21 years, coping with criticism and his most memorable innings.

Early reviews have been good, acknowledging how Bacher gets under the skin of one of the world’s most iconic sportsmen and gets closer than most to discovering what makes him tick.

The interview was carried out in association with the World Sport Group, who manage Tendulkar.